Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 387



387

“Looks like your body is fine.”

“…Yes.”

My father who I faced after the sparring still looked the same.

The peculiar thing was that he was deliberately turning his back to me.

“Why are you turning your back?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Is my face that funny?”

“…No.”

‘He’s definitely avoiding looking at me because I look ridiculous.’

If my father couldn’t bear to look at me for long what on earth was going on?

‘In the midst of all this why hasn’t that bastard Jang-ryong said anything?’

That guy was the bigger problem.

As soon as Gu Hee-bi saw me she burst out laughing. If my father found it hard to look at my face then Woo-hyuk must have known long ago and just didn’t say anything.

‘That bastard must have done it on purpose.’

It was clear he didn’t say anything just to see me make a fool of myself.

If it was him there was no doubt about it.

For now I needed to focus on my father so I decided to ask a few questions to break the ice.

“Training in a different region? Is something going on?”

Originally my father didn’t train outside. There was a separate training ground for Clan Heads in the Gu family so there shouldn’t be any overlap.

At the very least I knew he wouldn’t train in another area.

“I couldn’t sleep so I practiced for a bit.”

“For a bit? It seems like you’ve been at it for quite a while.”

I could tell from the lingering heat around us.

The heat had clearly been there for a long time.

He said he couldn’t sleep huh? I wondered if he had stayed up all night.

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“Third.”

“Yes.”

“Where did you learn that power?”

“…”

My father jumped straight to the point.

He skipped the usual morning greetings and questions about whether I had eaten going straight to the main topic. It was a bit surprising.

‘That’s so like my father.’

That was indeed a very fatherly thing to do.

“The power you mentioned.”

“Yeah.”

“What kind of power are you talking about?”

I thought about pretending I didn’t know but…

“Tuapachunmu.”

“…”

I had to bite my tongue at the casual way my father said it.

“It was the martial arts of Elder Pae-jun.”

“…No.”

I had definitely drawn on inner arts but I had collapsed before I could even use them properly.

How did my father know this?

Did he figure it out just by looking at me?

“Did you incorporate two types of heart techniques into your body?”

“That… well it just happened that way.”

It wasn’t just two; it was more like four or five.

But mentioning that wouldn’t help the situation so I kept my mouth shut.

Only then did my father turn his back to me and look this way.

“Seeing that you’re fine despite incorporating two heart techniques it seems there’s something going on.”

Rather than asking why it felt more like he was confirming the result and looking for a reason.

“Yes… um it just worked out when I tried.”

“Did Elder Pae-jun tell you to do that?”

“No that’s not it. I insisted on learning together because I can’t abandon the martial arts of my family.”

“…Hmm.”

It seemed my answer didn’t sit well with him. But it was the truth.

It was true that I couldn’t abandon my family’s martial arts and I had insisted on it.

“Clan Head.”

“Speak.”

“Then was it because I tried to use two heart techniques that you knocked me out yesterday?”

I wondered if he had knocked me out to prevent my body from exploding.

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“Yeah.”

And with my father’s answer I knew that was the case.

After all I had suddenly pulled out a different heart technique right in front of him so to others it might have looked like I was trying to commit suicide.

Feeling awkward I turned my head and my father brought up another topic.

“When did you start practicing?”

“It hasn’t been long a few months.”

“That means Elder is currently in Henan.”

“…”

Oh no was that a slip of the tongue? I started to feel a bit cautious wondering if it would cause any problems.

“Since it’s your choice I won’t say anything else. If you say there’s no problem with your practice then go ahead.”

“…Yes.”

“If you happen to meet the Elder tell him I want to see him soon.”

“Understood.”

I expected Elder’s face to not look too pleased when I delivered this message but what could I do? I had been found out.

After letting out a sigh inwardly I spoke to my father.

“Um… Clan Head.”

“Yeah.”

“Then what about qi? Is that going to be disregarded?”

My father looked at me with a mysterious gaze.

The sparring from the previous day was a way to pass on information about my mother.

Since I hadn’t landed a single successful attack it meant I had lost in terms of qi.

I knew that but I was still clinging to it shamelessly.

‘Do you feed me just to show off? I should at least beg for it.’

I was far from that kind of personality so it was a relief in a way.

“You’re taking it lighter than I expected.”

“…Ahem.”

He was saying why was I dragging out a conversation that was already over?

I felt a bit embarrassed but it wasn’t something I could just let go of and above all this topic wasn’t something I could bring up without justification.

“Clan Head you clearly said you would only use one hand yesterday.”

“…”

My father’s eyebrows twitched at my words.

I could tell from that.

He knew exactly what I was talking about.

At that moment I clearly saw it.

“But why did you use your right arm?”

“…”

The arm my father used to hit my face last night was his right hand.

“Isn’t that right?”

My father remained silent.

His frown was quite intimidating but I could faintly tell that it was part of his surprise.

“Then I won against you in qi right?”

“…”

Still no answer. My father was probably trying to subtly ignore it but I wouldn’t let that slide.

I was better than anyone at picking apart others’ actions so there was no way I would miss this.

Before starting the qi sparring my father had sealed one hand.

The sealed hand was definitely his right hand.

The fact that he used it in the end meant that I had won.

I watched my father curious about how he would respond.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but express my admiration at my father’s response.

I never thought I would see my father trying to wriggle out of something.

“Is this how you’re going to play it?”

“One it seems you’re quite disappointed so I’ll give you one more chance.”

“What do you mean by that? What am I disappointed about?”

He was trying to slip away subtly wasn’t he?

What would I be disappointed about?

I stared at my father in disbelief. Then I couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

The fact that my father was acting this way meant after all

“…It seems you don’t want to send me there no matter what.”

“I should have said that from the beginning.”

“Still I have to go. I will find a way to go.”

“…”

“Even if you try to stop me I will stubbornly push through.”

I had to go.

By any means necessary.

I couldn’t just let the divine sword contained in my body go and to know what was happening to me I had to push through.

This was to say that no matter how much my father tried to stop me it wouldn’t change anything.

As I conveyed my determination to my father he fell silent for a moment before speaking to me.

“Alright.”

“Pardon?”

He said alright? Just as I was filled with unexpected anticipation.

“If you really want to go there I’ll set one condition.”

I frowned at my father’s next words.

“A spar? Again?”

It was a fight I couldn’t win right away.

I had confirmed the gap between my father and me yesterday.

Unless I regained all the levels I had reached in my past life there was no way I could reach him now.

More than anything the time it would take to regain all the powers of my past life was also a problem.

“It’s not a spar.”

“Then what is it?”

“What is your current level of heart technique?”

“Seven Stars.”

To be precise it was the beginning of Seven Stars.

Thanks to reaching the transformation stage the ring of Gu Yeonhwa Ryun Gong had also grown.

“Reach the composition. If you do I will teach you.”

“…Composition?”

“Yeah.”

Composition was the level I had reached in my past life.

So did that mean he would teach me if I regained all the powers of my past life?

‘It’s a bit different from that.’

It would be different from my past life.

Back then I was focused on increasing demonic qi rather than my family’s martial arts. If I aimed for it now I would reach it much sooner.

That wasn’t a bad deal but…

“May I ask why it has to be… composition?”

The condition he set was more detailed than I expected so I was a bit curious.

Hearing my question my father answered without hesitation.

“Because you need to reach that level to survive.”

“…”

I was left speechless by my father’s answer.

I had no idea how formidable that place was to warrant such a condition but looking at my father’s face I could tell there was truly no room for negotiation.

‘Is this all I can gain from the talk about my arm?’

Even if I tried to press him about not using both arms I knew that the spar itself had been arranged out of my father’s consideration so pushing it would only get me this far.

‘Composition…’

Even if it was just two levels ahead the gap would only grow deeper as time went on.

“…Understood. I will ask again after reaching Nine Stars.”

But for now I had to accept it since there was no other way.

I said I understood but I was also thinking of finding another way while raising my level.

My father nodded at my words.

And then.

“…”

“…”

Perhaps because the conversation had ended a long silence fell between us.

It was an uncomfortable silence.

I was pondering whether to escape or say something more when my father spoke first.

“Third.”

“Yes.”

“Have you eaten?”

“…”

I was quite taken aback by my father’s words. I had heard that somewhere before.

‘Where have I heard that?’

As I turned my thoughts around I quickly recalled.

‘It’s something I always used to say.’

It was a blunt question not really expecting an answer just asking if everything was alright or if I was starving.

“No… I haven’t.”

“Alright.”

Hearing my answer my father immediately walked past me.

Then he threw out a short remark.

“Then let’s go eat. Follow me.”

“…”

I quietly watched my father’s back. It felt like I was hearing something for the first time from him.

He meant to have breakfast together right?

As I mulled over that meaning I cautiously began to follow him.

“…Yes Father.”

At my casual remark my father’s shoulders slightly twitched.

I wondered if I looked strange for saying that.

But my father didn’t say anything.

What followed was the same silence I had experienced before.

However.

Unlike earlier this silence wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

It felt strangely pleasant.